London residents saw a bloody weekend, with five men shot and four men stabbed following a deadly July that was riddled with murders.
Over just a few hours last weekend, five men were shot in three different incidents across England’s capital. The shootings took place in Brixton, Hackney, and Croydon, beginning Friday around 6 p.m. local time until 2 a.m. Saturday.
The first shooting occurred in Brixton, but police didn’t find any victims when they responded to reports of a shooting. Later that night, two men admitted themselves to a local hospital with gunshot wounds. A submachine gun was reportedly used in the incident.
Another shooting reportedly occurred in Hackney at an unlicensed music party. Two men later admitted themselves to a hospital with gunshot wounds, and one of the men was also stabbed, according to the Telegraph. Police believe the incident is related to the shooting in Brixton.
A final shooting occurred in Croydon early Saturday morning, where a man was found shot and taken to a hospital.
The shootings all reportedly resulted in non-life-threatening injuries. The United Kingdom banned handguns in 1997, but residents are able to own certain shotguns with a permit.
The violence continued into Sunday when four men were stabbed in High Holborn due to a street fight, according to police. Two of the men face life-threatening injuries, according to local reports.
London officials reported 15 deaths in the month of July as crime continues in the city. Knife crimes jumped 6% since last year in the country, and London saw a 23% jump in murders from January to April.
Crime and violence is also on the rise in the United States, as protests and riots following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody continue in cities across the country.
New York City, in particular, has seen repeated nights of bloodshed, with more shootings reported this year than in all of 2019.
“It only gets worse from here,” Joseph Giacalone, a retired New York City Police Department sergeant, said. “As the shootings continue, so will retaliation. It’s a vicious cycle that the NYPD worked hard to mitigate, but that they are no longer able and in some cases willing to do.”
Portland has reported more of the same, with the local police department investigating the highest number of homicides over the course of a single month in more than three decades.
There were 63 shootings and 15 homicides in Portland in the month of July, according to Oregon Live, which police say is more killings than they’ve dealt within one month for more than 30 years.
